Unforeseen Results
by erm31323
Summary: Cho Chang is tired of her father's prejudices. After saving a Muggle from being hit by a bus, Cho finds herself dating him and they are both shocked when they realize just who the other is. Based on The Little Mermaid and written for Round 12 of the QLFC and Muggle Studies Class at the Hogwarts Fair.
1. Cho

**A/N - A different pairing for me to be sure, but I have found that I kind of like it. :) This was written for Round 12 of the Quidditch League Comp. This round was all about fairy tales and my prompt was The Little Mermaid. I have leaned more toward the Disney version. **

**Also written for Advanced Classes - Muggle Studies, Lesson 2 at the Hogwarts Fair on HPFC.**

**Word count for judging - 3285**

**Thanks to asebi for betaing! **

* * *

"It was bad enough when you were an Obliviator," her father snapped. "But now you are working for the Muggle Liason office?" Cho sighed. She was tired of having this argument.

"I know you don't approve-" Cho began, but her father cut her off.

"Of course I do not approve!" he thundered. "You are wasting your intellect! You should be an Unspeakable or a Healer. Not wasting your time with Muggles!"

"I'm not wasting my time," Cho insisted. "I was talking with Hermione Granger the other day and -" but once again her father interrupted.

"Hermione Granger," he spat. "The 'brightest witch of her age' squandering her intelligence in the Magical Creatures Division." He shook his head in disgust.

"If you would let me finish," Cho said through gritted teeth. "Hermione and I were discussing the difficulties that Muggle-borns have when they first come to Hogwarts. Not to mention that their parents have no idea what to do about accidental magic or even what it is. It might be a good idea to contact these families earlier and explain what is going on, as well as give the children an introduction to the magical world."

"You know how I feel about Muggle-borns living with Muggles," her father retorted.

"We cannot just kidnap babies from their parents because their parents aren't magical," Cho said in exasperation.

"It is not kidnapping," he argued. "When the Book of Admittance records a birth, the Muggle-born child is adopted by a Wizarding family, and the Muggles' memories modified. There is no danger of being rejected by their parents for having magical talent and Muggles do not have to try and understand something they clearly cannot." Cho shook her head.

"I never realized how prejudiced you really are," she said sadly.

"It is not prejudice," her father protested. "I do not have any problems with Muggles. They are free to live their lives as they wish. Our worlds should just remain separate, completely separate, that is all."

"And what of witches and wizards that choose to marry Muggles?" she asked. He shrugged.

"If they choose the Muggle world over their own, then they should live as Muggles," he replied. "There are ways to strip one of their magic." Cho shook her head again.

"I have to get to work," she said and turned to the Floo. She looked over her shoulder before she stepped in. "You can dress it up as pretty as you like, Dad, but it's still prejudice." She stepped into the flames, leaving her annoyed father behind.

* * *

Cho stalked to her office, disgusted with her father's attitude. While he had always felt that magical children belonged in the magical world, his stance on snatching babies away from their parents was relatively new. If Cho's mother were here, she would have given him that look she always did and he would have backed away from whatever ridiculous position he had taken. Her mother had kept her father more even-tempered and less extreme in his thinking. But her mother had died just after the war, caught in a skirmish between Aurors and a few remaining rogue Death Eaters in Diagon Alley and her father's rigid thinking had continually gotten worse.

Sighing as she sat down at her desk, she pulled out the notes she had taken while she and Hermione had discussed the issues with Muggle-born children. Cho wanted to put everything into a coherent report before she raised the subject with her boss. She tapped her quill against her lips. Perhaps she should talk to a few more Muggle-borns. It wouldn't hurt to have as many viewpoints as she could.

Cho spent the rest of the morning making a list of the all the Muggle-borns she knew. She spent the afternoon talking with those that worked in the Ministry and then after work visited a few others. It was late when she left Justin Finch-Fletchley's flat. He lived in Muggle London and he had spent quite some time showing her all kinds of Muggle electronics and other gadgets.

It was quite amazing, Cho mused as she walked, what Muggles could do without magic. She had taken Muggle Studies at Hogwarts, much to her father's dismay, but even everything they had learned in class wasn't the same as actually seeing it. She wished her father could understand that, but anytime she had tried to show him something, he had just brushed it aside as inferior.

She yawned and realized it was quite late. She should find somewhere she could safely Apparate. She began scanning the street and saw an alley a bit further up the block and began to walk towards it.

Movement ahead of her caught her attention and she saw a man walking towards her, his face buried in a newspaper. A cross-street separated them, but Cho could see that he had no idea he was about to step directly into the street. Nor did he notice that there was a large city bus heading straight for him.

She shouted and he looked up, but it was going to be too late. Reacting without thinking, Cho pulled her wand and shot a spell at the man, causing him to fly backwards. He knocked his head on a lamppost and fell unmoving to the sidewalk.

She swore as she ran towards him. Miraculously, either the bus driver hadn't noticed anything or didn't care because the bus never stopped, just careened around the corner and continued on its way. She was sure that there had been people on the bus that saw what happened, but she couldn't worry about that right now. At least there didn't appear to be anyone else on the street.

She reached the man and realized he was unconscious. She did a basic diagnostic scan. Despite what her father thought, she _had_ considered being a Healer. He seemed to be all right, just had a nasty bump on his head and probably a concussion. She needed to get him to a Muggle hospital and if she knew where one was, she would just Apparate them there.

"Is he all right?" a voice asked and Cho whipped around to see an old woman walking towards them. "I called for the ambulance." Cho breathed a sigh of relief.

"I think he'll be fine," she said. "He just seems to have a bump on his head."

"Did that bus hit him?" the woman asked.

"No," Cho replied.

"Then what made him fly through the air like that?" the woman wondered. Cho swore in her head.

"Fly through the air?" Cho questioned. "I didn't see him fly through the air. He just seemed to stumble backwards and hit his head on that post."

"No, dearie, I definitely saw him fly through the air," the woman said. Cho closed her eyes and shook her wand into her hand. She pointed it at the woman and muttered the memory modification charm, changing the woman's memories to match what Cho had said. Cho hated doing it, but had no choice. The woman blinked a few times and then smiled at Cho.

Cho looked back down at the man. He was large, but a muscular large, and had blonde hair that currently hung a bit in his eyes. She gently brushed his hair away from his forehead and he groaned, shifting. She could hear the sirens getting closer and she knew that she should modify his memory as well. But something held her back from doing so. She told herself that it was because of his concussion. She didn't want to make things any worse.

The ambulance finally arrived and Cho made to stand when a hand grasped her arm. She gasped and looked down as blue eyes looked up at her.

"You're going to be all right," she said soothingly.

"Who," he began as his eyes drooped closed and then opened again, "are you?" Before she could answer the Muggle Healers were there. Cho moved back and with one last look at the man on the ground, she slipped away into the darkness.

* * *

The next day, Cho was still worried about him. She wished she had stayed to make sure he was all right, although she was quite certain that he was. Still, concussions could be tricky things and it was her fault that he'd gotten one. Of course, she was sure that he would rather have a concussion than be dead. Shaking her head, she looked back at the newspaper lying open on her desk.

Part of her job was to scan the Muggle newspapers each day, in case there was something in them that could obviously be contributed to magic. They would then send out the appropriate department, the Magical Reversal Squad or the Obliviators to take care of the situation. Most days there wasn't anything of interest.

She turned another page and gasped. There he was, the man that she had rescued. She quickly read the article which was a story about a small gym in the area and their training of local youth. The man, whose name she discovered was Dudley Dursley, had taken up boxing as a teen and attributed it to helping him change his attitude as well as his physique. She wondered if he had been reading this very article when he had stepped into the street the night before.

Well, at least now she knew his name. Perhaps she could find his address and just check to make sure he was all right. She knew how to use a telephone book. Smiling, she cast a severing charm and removed the article from the paper, putting it into the pocket of her robes.

* * *

That evening, she found herself across the street from a house in Surrey. She didn't even want to think about the amount of time it had taken her to get here. She had been standing behind this tree, under a Disillusionment charm, for almost an hour now and she hadn't seen anything except a very large man arriving in a very large car. Her stomach was growling loudly and she knew that her father would be worried. Sighing, she turned and disappeared with a small crack.

The next night, she found herself in the exact same spot, and the next night and the next. So far, she had seen the large man return home each night and she had also seen a tall, bony-looking woman as well, but Dudley hadn't made an appearance. She told herself she kept coming here just to make sure he was all right, but that small annoying voice in her head told her that wasn't the only reason. Normally, she mentally smacked that voice and shoved it to the far corner of her brain.

On the fifth day she had finally decided to give up, when the front door opened and Dudley walked out.

"Mum, I'm fine," he was insisting.

"But Dudders, the doctor said-" the woman that Cho had seen earlier began. But Dudley interrupted her.

"The doctor said a lot of things Mum, but not being allowed to take a walk wasn't one of them," Dudley said. "I'm tired of being cooped up in the house."

"Let me just come with you then," his mother said.

"No!" Dudley insisted. He closed his eyes and took a breath. "Mum, I'll be fine. I've got my mobile."

"Let the boy go, Petunia," a voice from inside the house called.

"Don't be gone long," the woman said worriedly.

"I won't be," he assured her.

Cho watched him walk down the drive to the sidewalk. He looked fine, but she had similar feelings to his mother. What if something happened? She convinced herself that was why she followed him, not because she was curious about him.

He walked to a small park and sat down on a bench, turning his face up to the sun that was slowly sinking lower in the sky. She stood a few feet away and simply watched him. He still appeared to be all right, no worse for wear, but she couldn't make herself leave.

After a few minutes, he turned around and looked behind him, his eyes darting around the park. She held perfectly still, knowing that any movement by her could be detected by him, Disillusionment or not.

"Is someone there?" he called, still looking around. Cho held her breath. Finally, he shook his head slightly and turned back toward the sun. She moved carefully away and walked around the corner before Disapparating.

* * *

She stayed away from Surrey for three days before she finally gave in and went back. She had given up trying to argue with that little voice in her head about her reasons for going. She Apparated to the park this time and had just stepped out from the copse of trees before she realized she hadn't cast the Disillusionment.

"It's you," she heard a voice say and she turned around, coming face to face with Dudley.

"I, I," she stuttered, instantly terrified at what he might have seen.

"You're the one that saved me," he said with a smile.

"Saved you?" she questioned, her mind flustered at being caught out.

"Yes, remember, the bus," he said. "You shoved me out of the way somehow." Her mouth opened and closed like a fish. She should have Obliviated him when she had the chance.

"No, I, erm," she trailed off and he looked at her in confusion.

"It was you, wasn't it?" he asked.

"No, I mean," she shook her head and took a breath. "Yes, it was me, but I just shouted and you looked up and then you stumbled back."

"That's not how I remember it," he said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well, you did hit your head pretty hard," she pointed out. "Sometimes that makes things a little hazy." His eyes narrowed as he studied her.

"I guess you're not who I thought," he muttered.

"I'm sorry?" she said in puzzlement.

"Forget it," he said. "Thank you, for shouting." She smiled.

"You're welcome. How are you feeling?"

"I'm all right," he said. "I had a mild concussion so I'm sort of stuck without much to do right now. My mum is driving me crazy." She chuckled. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Oh, I was, um, visiting a friend," she managed. He nodded, seeming to believe her.

"I'm Dudley by the way," he said holding out his hand. "Dudley Dursley."

"Cho Chang," she replied shaking his hand.

"Well, Cho Chang, would you let me take you to dinner?" he asked. "To thank you properly."

"I'd like that," she said with a smile.

* * *

The two of them were nearly inseparable the next few weeks. They went out almost every night and Dudley took her all over Muggle London. Cho loved every minute of it and was growing fonder of Dudley with every passing day. She suspected that he felt the same way about her. She kept him a secret from everyone, especially her father. She knew her father loved her, but she wasn't sure that would win out over his attitude towards Muggles.

The only thing that was bothering her was that she hadn't told Dudley she was as witch. She'd tried, but every time she opened her mouth it was like she had been struck dumb. The words got jumbled in her head and she just couldn't seem to get them past her lips. She knew she had to tell him, but just wasn't sure how.

She came home late one night after a very romantic date with Dudley and walked quietly to her room with a dreamy smile on her face. She stopped short when she had lit the lamps saw her father sitting in her armchair.

"Where have you been?" he asked.

"Out with Marietta," she replied.

"Then why did Marietta Floo here this evening looking for you?" he asked. Cho swore in her head.

"Fine, I was on a date," she said with a sigh.

"With whom?" her father questioned.

"That's really none of your business," Cho responded.

"You are my daughter," he snapped. "Of course it is my business."

"I'm twenty years old," Cho retorted. "I'm not a child."

"Were you out with this Muggle?" he demanded holding up the newspaper clipping of Dudley, as well as a strip of photos they had taken at a kiosk in the shopping mall.

"You went through my things?" she asked incredulously.

"No daughter of mine will date a Muggle," he pronounced. Cho's eyes narrowed.

"I will date who I like," she said lowly.

"Then you are no daughter of mine," he returned. She gaped at him in astonishment, but he turned his back on her. The tears came instantly to her eyes, but she refused to let him see.

"Fine," she said, grabbing a rucksack and shoving some clothes into it. She picked up the pictures and the newspaper article where they had fallen. She stared at her father's back, but he did not move. "Good-bye Daddy." And then she Apparated away.

* * *

"I want you to meet my cousin," Dudley said, tugging her toward the café. Cho laughed a bit trying to keep up with him. They stepped inside the café and made their way to a table in the back. Cho was a bit nervous. This was the first of Dudley's relatives she had met.

"Here she is Harry," Dudley said as they reached the table. The man at the table looked up and Cho's jaw dropped.

"Harry?" she said incredulously.

"Cho?" he replied just as surprised. Dudley looked back and forth between the two of them.

"You two know each other?" he questioned.

"We went to school together," Harry said, still obviously in shock. Cho looked at Harry and then Dudley and spun and ran from the café. He would know now, Dudley would know and she knew that Harry's relatives didn't like magic. She was going to lose him, just as she'd lost her father. The thought that Dudley was actually speaking to Harry didn't cross her mind.

"Cho, wait!" she heard Dudley call, but she didn't stop. He was faster than her however and caught up to her before she could cross the street.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked taking hold of her arms. She shook her head, the tears streaming down her face.

"I tried, I did, so many times, but I couldn't, I didn't know," she trailed off and sobbed harder. Dudley pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head.

"I knew it," he said.

"What?" she asked.

"I knew you used magic to save me that night from the bus," he explained. She blinked and he wiped the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs.

"And you're not furious with me?" she questioned.

"From keeping me from being flattened?" he quipped. She smacked his chest.

"Not that," she replied.

"Well, I do wish you would have told me sooner," he admitted. "But I don't plan on losing you anytime soon Cho. Besides, after talking with Harry all these weeks, I've become rather intrigued by magic." He smiled at her.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"I know," he responded and then he kissed her.

* * *

Two years later, Dudley made good on his promise. Dudley's father did not attend the wedding, but Cho was sure that she saw his mother in the back. Cho's father had ignored the invitation as well, but when Cho prepared to walk down the aisle, her father appeared at her side.

"Are you happy daughter?" he asked as she looked at him in shock.

"Yes, very happy," she managed. He nodded once and then walked her down the aisle.

* * *

**A/N2 - All right, so this was actually my third attempt to write this fic, as the previous two refused to stay under the word count limit. As such, I have the same story from Dudley's POV almost completely written. So, once judging is over in a few weeks, I will probably add a second chapter. :)**


	2. Dudley

**A/N - Here is the second chapter from Dudley's POV. You will probably recognize some of the dialogue as there is some overlap. Enjoy! **

**I'm dedicating this to my lovely teammates trollnexus, MaryRoyale and asebi. I'd say sorry for being your ship dealer, but I know you wouldn't believe me. :P **

* * *

Dudley nervously drummed his fingers on the table while he waited for his cousin to arrive. He hadn't seen Harry in nearly two years, not since the night they had been taken away from Privet Drive.

A lot of things had changed for Dudley that year in hiding. Actually, they had started changing before that, the summer those Dementor things attacked him and Harry. But last year, he'd lived with a witch and a wizard and had lost his fear of magic. The things they could do were quite amazing really. And he had heard all about Harry's success defeating that crazy wizard that had been after him since he was a baby. Dudley had been rather impressed with his cousin.

Surprisingly enough, their house on Privet Drive was still standing when they returned to it. Dudley had gone up to Harry's bedroom and saw the stack of his abandoned things in the corner. Dudley had taken most of the books and the newspapers and hid them in his room and then spent that summer reading everything. Some things confused him, but he still found it fascinating. His parents had no idea of course and Dudley intended to keep it that way. Even after everything Harry's friends had done for them, his father still had no use for magic.

In the fall, he had gone back to Smeltings to finish his final year. He continued boxing and lost more weight. Dudley would never be a small person by any means, but he had now lost all the pudginess of his youth. All of his friends had finished school the year before, but Dudley found this to be a good thing. He got the best grades he'd ever had.

Dudley was pulled from his thoughts by the jingle of the bell from the café's door. He looked up and saw Harry searching for him. He stood and gave a wave, Harry's surprised look another indication of Dudley's change in appearance.

Harry approached the table and Dudley remained standing, holding out his hand to his cousin when he reached him. Harry shook his hand and the two sat. Harry still looked the same, except he had filled out some and he was a little taller.

"So, how are things?" Dudley asked after a few moments of awkward silence. Harry shrugged.

"Better than they were the last time we saw each other," he said.

"Hestia told us all about what you did," Dudley said. "I didn't understand most of it, but it sounds like it was pretty amazing." Harry shrugged again.

"I just did what I had to do," he said quietly. They fell into silence again. Dudley tried to put his thoughts into words, but every time he opened his mouth, they all jumbled in his head again.

"Look Dudley," Harry said after a few minutes. "I'm not sure why you asked me here or what you want, but can we get to the point?"

"I read your books," Dudley blurted out. Harry looked at him in confusion. "The books you left in your room. I read them all."

"My textbooks?" Harry questioned. Dudley nodded. "But…why?"

"I was curious," Dudley said. "Although, I didn't understand a lot of it." Harry chuckled. "But the parts I did, it's, it's, I'm not sure how to even describe it. Just, wow."

"Should I be testing you for Polyjuice potion?" Harry asked jokingly, although his face had taken on a guarded look.

"Polyjuice?" Dudley asked his brow furrowing. "Oh wait, that's the one that makes you look like someone else right?" Harry's hand twitched and suddenly Dudley could see the tip of his cousin's wand sticking out from his sleeve. Dudley looked at him warily.

"What game did you like to play with me when we were younger?" Harry asked tersely. Dudley gaped at him for a minute.

"We, we didn't play any games," Dudley's stuttered out. Harry's grip tightened on his wand. Dudley swallowed visibly, his face falling. "You mean Harry Hunting don't you?" Dudley could see Harry relax.

"Sorry, but you have to admit Dud, this is extremely odd," Harry said with a wry grin. Dudley grinned sheepishly.

"I suppose," he agreed. "I'm sorry Harry. For being such a git to you when we were kids." Harry just gaped at him and then began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Dudley finally asked.

"Just, I don't," Harry paused and shook his head, getting his laughter under control. "If you had told me a week ago that I'd be sitting here having this conversation with you," he shook his head again. "It's just weird, all right?"

"Yeah, I know," Dudley said with a grin. The two spent the rest of the meal talking about various things. Dudley thought it went quite well and invited Harry again the following week.

"No offense, Dudley, but why are you doing this?" Harry asked again. Dudley sighed.

"Look Harry, you're the only family I have except my parents and Aunt Marge," he said making a face at the mention of his aunt. "I know my parents treated you horribly when you were a kid and I did too. I'm not going to try and make up for that or anything, because I doubt I could. But I'd like to start over I guess." Harry stared at him for a moment.

"Hell, why not?" he said. "Next week, same time?"

"Sounds good," Dudley said with a grin.

* * *

The next few weeks, the cousins met for breakfast in the same café. Dudley asked Harry all sorts of questions about magic and was growing more enthralled with it by the minute. Harry had brought him a book about Quidditch, and Dudley had devoured it in only two days. He was currently reading _Hogwarts, a History_. They discussed magic and spells and theories about why Harry's mother had been a witch, but Dudley's own was not. His parents still had no idea he was meeting with his cousin or that he had all Harry's old books in his room. And Dudley had no intention of telling them about it. They would never understand. He was just grateful that Harry wanted to have anything to do with him.

* * *

Dudley walked toward the tube station, the newspaper in his hand capturing all of his attention. The article on his gym was even better than he had expected and Dudley was grinning. His coach had truly helped him turn his life around, in more ways than one, and he would be forever grateful to the man.

He was so engrossed in the newspaper, he wasn't watching where he was going. He heard the shout as he stepped into the road and when he looked up, couldn't quite process the fact that a bus was looming in front of him. Before he even realized what was happening, he felt himself lifted up into the air and thrown backwards, even though he was positive that there was no one around that could have done it. His head slammed into something and darkness overtook him as he fell to the ground.

Everything felt fuzzy. He could hear sirens in the distance, but his head throbbed painfully and he couldn't figure out what they were for. He blinked, trying to focus and saw the outline of a shape next to him. By the time he realized it was a person, she was starting to stand. He reached up and grabbed her arm and she gasped and looked down at him. Even through the haze of his vision, he could tell she was beautiful.

"Who," he began as his eyes drooped closed and then opened again, "are you?" He saw her look back at him one more time before his eyes closed once more.

* * *

When he came to, he was in a hospital bed. He groaned at the pain in his head.

"Right big knock you took to your head there," the nurse said to him when she realized he was awake. "Bit of a concussion the doctor says, but you'll be all right."

"The girl," Dudley said, trying to sit up.

"Now, now, none of that," the nurse said, pushing him back against the pillows. His vision swam and he closed his eyes. "You'll be a wee bit dizzy for a while yet."

"Is the girl all right?" Dudley managed.

"What girl?" the nurse questioned.

"The girl, woman, that pushed me out of the road," Dudley replied. "That's how I hit my head."

"I don't know anything about any girl or a woman," the nurse said. "You were alone when you came in. The doctor will be in to see you in a few minutes." With that, she left the room.

Dudley didn't understand. He was positive there had been a woman kneeling over him when he regained consciousness for those few moments. But if she hadn't come to the hospital as well, it must mean she wasn't hurt. Maybe the doctor would know more.

But, as it turned out, the doctor had no idea what Dudley was talking about either. The only witness to the accident had said that someone had shouted a warning as Dudley was about to step in front of the bus and that he had stepped quickly backwards, tripping on the curb and hitting his head on the nearby lamp post. Dudley _knew_ someone else had been there. Perhaps the person that had shouted? It was making his head hurt to think about it anymore and so Dudley closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Dudley finally escaped the confines of his bedroom. His mother had been fussing over him for days and it was about to drive him mad. There were loads of things he couldn't do with his concussion and he was extremely bored as a result. He began to walk toward the park, hands stuck in his jeans' pockets. He had been thinking more and more about the woman over the last few days.

He had dreamed about her, more than once and she was quite beautiful. At first he thought that maybe it was just his mind supplying a face to the voice that he had heard, but the more he dreamed of her, the more he knew that it was a memory he was seeing. He just wished someone else had remembered seeing her. He wanted to thank her for saving him.

And that was the other thing. The more he thought about what had happened, the more it didn't make sense. Sure, he'd looked up and seen the bus hurtling towards him, but he had no recollection of backing up himself and tripping over the curb. Besides that, he clearly remembered being thrown into the air and given the fact that his only injury had been the bump to the back of his head, it was obvious that the bus hadn't actually hit him.

The only explanation Dudley could come up with is that someone had used magic to get him out of the way; which led him to wonder if the woman that he saw in his dreams was a witch. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense to him. He wondered if Harry knew her and then decided that was a ludicrous thought.

Chuckling, Dudley sat down on a bench in the park. Surely, Harry didn't know every single witch and wizard in Britain, regardless of his fame. He turned his face toward the sun, glad to feel it on his skin after so many days of being cooped up in the house. He sat in silence, simply reveling in the quiet when the hair on the back of his neck prickled.

Slowly, he turned around and scanned behind him. He didn't see anyone, but he couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching him.

"Is someone there?" he called, still looking around. When no one answered, he shook his head and turned back toward the sun. He was truly letting his imagination run away with him. The feeling disappeared moments later and he snorted. Maybe the concussion had shook up his head more than he thought.

* * *

A few days later, he was back in the park. If the doctor didn't clear him to go back to work soon, he thought he might just throttle his mother. He had been home from the hospital for over a week and he was perfectly fine. He had planned to live at home while he attended university, but he was seriously considering looking for a flat. He wasn't sure if he could handle his mother's hovering much longer.

He heard a noise behind him and turned to the copse of trees. It was the same place that he'd thought someone had been watching him from the other evening. Standing, he peered at the trees, trying to discern if there was someone hiding there. A few moments later a woman walked out into the park. His mouth dropped open.

"It's you!" he exclaimed and she spun around, coming face to face with him.

"I, I," she stuttered, looking frightened. He closed his mouth thinking he had scared her.

"You're the one that saved me," he said with a smile.

"Saved you?" she questioned.

"Yes, remember, the bus," he said. "You shoved me out of the way somehow." Her mouth opened and closed like a fish.

"No, I, erm," she trailed off and he looked at her in confusion.

"It was you, wasn't it?" he asked, wondering now if he really had imagined the whole thing.

"No, I mean," she shook her head. "Yes, it was me, but I just shouted and you looked up and then you stumbled back."

"That's not how I remember it," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. She was giving him the same story as the doctor, but Dudley _knew_ that something else had happened.

"Well, you did hit your head pretty hard," she pointed out. "Sometimes that makes things a little hazy." His eyes narrowed as he studied her.

"I guess you're not who I thought," he muttered.

"I'm sorry?" she said in puzzlement.

"Forget it," he said. "Thank you, for shouting." She smiled.

"You're welcome. How are you feeling?"

"I'm all right," he said. "I had a mild concussion so I'm sort of stuck without much to do right now. My mum is driving me crazy." She chuckled. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Oh, I was, um, visiting a friend," she managed. He nodded, seeming to believe her.

"I'm Dudley by the way," he said holding out his hand. "Dudley Dursley."

"Cho Chang," she replied shaking his hand.

"Well, Cho Chang, would you let me take you to dinner?" he asked. "To thank you properly?"

"I'd like that," she said with a smile.

* * *

The two of them were nearly inseparable the next few weeks. It was a bit strange for Dudley at times, as Cho seemed so excited about many of the places he took her. It was almost as if she had never been to the cinema or a shopping center. The day they went into the electronics store, Dudley had just watched her in confusion. She exclaimed over the computers and the mobile phones and the CD players.

When he questioned her about it, she simply told him that she her father was very overprotective and did not allow her to do many of the things most normal teenagers did. He understood that but it almost seemed to him as if she had never heard of some of the things they saw in the store. But she looked at him with eyes shining in such delight that he completely forgot what he was even going to say. Instead, he just enjoyed her enthusiasm.

He had never met her father, Cho always insisted on meeting him somewhere in London before their dates. Dudley hadn't introduced her to his parents yet either. He wasn't sure why. He was quite sure they would love her as she was beautiful, smart and polite. He shrugged as he walked up the street toward the restaurant where he was meeting her.

"What's the matter?" he asked, the moment he laid eyes on her. He could tell she had been crying.

"My father and I had a fight," she said. "I moved out." Dudley sat down next to her and took her hand, wiping her tears from her face with the thumb of his free hand.

"What did you fight about?" he questioned. She shook her head.

"It doesn't matter," she replied.

"It does to me," he said, kissing the back of her hand. She sniffled and he handed her the napkin from his place setting.

"He found out about you," she said quietly.

"Oh," Dudley replied, unsure how to respond to that. He hadn't even met her father, how could the man dislike him? Or maybe it was because he hadn't met him. Perhaps her father was upset that she had been hiding their relationship.

"Maybe if he met me, he might change his mind," Dudley said. Cho just shook her head.

"No, it wouldn't," she replied.

"But, he doesn't even know me," Dudley protested. Cho smiled sadly and brought a hand to his cheek.

"He doesn't want me to date at all," she explained. "It wouldn't matter who you were." Dudley covered her hand with his own and then kissed her palm.

"I'm sorry," he said. She smiled. He smiled back at her for a few moments before struck with a sudden thought.

"I want you to meet my cousin," he said impulsively. Cho's brow furrowed.

"Your cousin?" she asked.

"Yes, I mean, I want to introduce you to my parents too, but I don't know, maybe my cousin would be easier to start," he said, wondering why it was so important to him that Harry like her.

"All right," she agreed.

"We have breakfast together once a week," he said. "I'm meeting him tomorrow. Can you come?"

"Yes," she said.

"Brilliant," he replied.

* * *

"Come on," he said, tugging at her hand. Cho laughed and he knew she was having a hard time keeping up with him. He wasn't sure just why he wanted them to meet so badly, but he couldn't wait either.

"Here she is Harry," Dudley said as they reached the table. Harry looked up and Cho's jaw dropped.

"Harry?" she said incredulously.

"Cho?" he replied just as surprised. Dudley looked back and forth between the two of them. How on earth did they know each other?

"You two know each other?" he questioned.

"We went to school together," Harry said, still obviously in shock. Cho looked at Harry and then Dudley, a look of terror crossing her face before she spun and ran from the café.

"Did you know?" Harry asked.

"No," Dudley replied, then turned and ran after her. His mind was whirling with snippets of thoughts. Some things made so much more sense now and even the fact that he had suspected from the beginning didn't make it any less shocking now that he actually knew. Still, he wasn't going to let her go. He thought that he just might be in love with her.

"Cho, wait!" he called as he came out of the café, but she didn't stop. Thankfully, she couldn't outrun him and he caught up to her before she could cross the street.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked taking hold of her arms and gently turning her around. She shook her head, the tears streaming down her face.

"I tried, I did, so many times, but I couldn't, I didn't know," she trailed off and sobbed harder. Dudley pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head. She clung to him and he was all the more certain that he might be in love with her.

"I knew it," he said.

"What?" she asked.

"I knew you used magic to save me that night from the bus," he explained. She blinked and he wiped the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs.

"And you're not furious with me?" she questioned.

"From keeping me from being flattened?" he quipped. She smacked his chest.

"Not that," she replied.

"Well, I do wish you would have told me sooner," he admitted. "But I don't plan on losing you anytime soon Cho. Besides, after talking with Harry all these weeks, I've become rather intrigued by magic." He smiled at her.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"I know," he responded and then he kissed her. "Come on, let's go have breakfast." She laughed and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. He grinned and led her back to the café.

* * *

Two years later, Dudley was pacing in the small anteroom behind the altar of the church. He tugged at his collar which seemed entirely too tight.

"Dud, calm down mate," Harry said with a chuckle.

"Are you sure she's here?" Dudley asked. Harry laughed again.

"I'm sure," he replied. "For some crazy reason she loves you and wants to marry your sorry arse." Dudley grinned, then sobered a few moments later.

"I just wish her dad was here," Dudley said quietly. Harry's smile slid from his face.

"Yeah, me too," Harry said. "You don't wish your parents were here?" Dudley shrugged.

"Sure I do," he said. "But I know a lost cause when I see one." Things had gone well when he introduced Cho to his parents. Until they found out she was a witch anyway. Then his father's face had turned purple and his mother had started to cry. Dudley had pulled Cho away when his father started in on magic and they left before his vitriol could gain full steam.

Harry clapped him on the shoulder just as there was a knock on the door.

"Gentlemen," the clergyman said. "It's time." Dudley and Harry followed him to the front of the church and Dudley looked out of the people assembled.

"Dud," Harry whispered just as Dudley spotted her. His mother was sitting in the back row of the church, hat pulled low and handkerchief in her hand.

"Well, I'll be damned," Dudley said quietly prompting the minister to clear his throat and glare at them.

"Sorry, sir," Dudley said automatically. But he had no more time to think on his mother's presence as the most beautiful vision filled his eyes. Cho walked into the church, on the arm of her father no less. Or at least Dudley assumed he was her father, never having met the man. Her father said something to her and she nodded and then they began to walk down the aisle towards him.

Cho was smiling widely when she reached Dudley's side. Her father stared at him for a few moments, his eyes flicking toward Harry in surprise. Finally, he released Cho's arm and laid her hand in Dudley's.

"You will take care of her," Mr. Chang said and his tone brokered no argument. Not that Dudley would have argued anyway. Of course he was going to take care of her.

"Until my last breath," he replied instead and Mr. Chang nodded once and then went to sit down. Dudley raised Cho's hand to kiss the back of it. She smiled and Dudley returned it, then they both turned to the minister ready to begin their life together.


End file.
